THINK!

President of the Independent Woman’s Forum, called for the first woman front runner in the Democratic Primaries to drop-out with grace. On May 19, 2008 she said to Chris Matthews on ‘Hardball’ “there will be riots in the streets if Obama is not the nominee”. Michelle Bernard is an attorney by training. With this kind of intemperate language, I won’t hire her as my attorney. So much for an independent woman and for an attorney! Can you imagine a white person using this kind of language on national net-work like MSNBC or CNN? There would have been instant lynching like Bill Clinton (the first Black President) and Geraldine Ferraro received.

Hillary Clinton was a bad candidate to begin with. She presumed that being a former First Lady for eight years was qualification enough to be elected the next President of The United States. People obviously did not think so. Her position on Iraq war was never very convincing. She never learnt anything from her debacle of the controversial Universal Health Care plan, proposed by her in 1993. Hillary suddenly became a populist and disowned NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), a major achievement of Bill Clinton’s presidency. She ran a bad campaign and mismanaged her finances. She ignored important Caucus States. These were reasons enough for her to be defeated. What she did not expect was a ‘Black Betrayal’. The Clinton’s have done more for the Black Community, during the last 40 years, than Obama would do in a lifetime. But nonetheless, the Blacks voted even 92% for Obama. If this is not Black Racism, than what is? Michelle Bernard’s explanation is spurious.

Most of the black commentators, analysts and talk-show hosts have come out against the Clinton’s. The reason was Bill Clinton’s one line remark after the South Carolina primary. He compared Barack Obama’s candidacy to Jesse Jackson’s bid in 1984. This according to Michelle Bernard and other black and liberal commentators was, race-baiting. In fact this was a perfect excuse. Most blacks realized after the Iowa Caucuses that Barack Obama has a fair chance of winning the Democratic Nomination in 2008. The problem was how to dump Hillary Clinton. How to find some excuse to abandon the Clintons and support an unknown black candidate. Bill Clinton provided that flimsy excuse. It was shameful to see long-term Clinton supporters like Donna Brazile and James Clyburn, threatening the Clintons with dire consequences. Neither these two nor many others had the decency to come out straight and tell Hillary Clinton that they would rather support one of their own.

Barack Obama is a very attractive Presidential Candidate. He is well educated, well informed and a very articulate speaker. His two books are thoughtful and very well written. He is a Democrat and his positions are in line with his party. He has fired the imagination of millions of young Americans across this vast and diverse country. Obama is perceived as a refreshing change around the world and the international community is looking forward to this dynamic individual for some serious leadership.